SOCCER: Wits FC Women’s side looking to attack this season

by | Mar 9, 2015 | Sport

The Wits Football Club Women’s side is hoping to win against the University of Johannesburg ahead of tomorrow’s encounter at the Bidvest Wits Stadium.

 

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CLASH OF THE NEIGHBOURS : L-R Wits FC’s Mid-Fielder Linah Maphanga and University of Johannesburg’s striker Molemo Mashigo at the USSA (University Sport South Africa) Gauteng Football League launch, which took place last Tuesday at UJ Soweto Campus.                                                                                Photo: Nqobile Dludla

 

Wits Football Club (FC) Women’s side coach Dennis Tshabalala emphasised the need to play attacking football against University of Johannesburg (UJ) Women’s side when the two sides meet at the Bidvest Wits Stadium on Tuesday night.

Speaking to Wits Vuvuzela, Tshabalala said: “The way we attack will be different tomorrow as it has (sic) been the area which we had to solve and I am confident we will score 1 or 2 goals tomorrow.”

Wits FC will be looking to return to this season’s USSA (University Sport South Africa) Gauteng Football League looking to qualify for the USSA Football Championships.

The team finished in fifth position last year with 11 points while UJ made it into the semi-finals of the USSA Gauteng qualifiers and finished third with 22 points.

Commenting on last season’s performance, Tshabalala said one of the positives was, “that we did not concede a lot of goals which meant defensively we were reasonably okay.” Tshabalala agreed that the team faced challenges with scoring against the top four teams.

Despite UJ finishing the season with more points than Wits FC, Tshabalala is confident that his team is “ready and have worked hard at dealing with any form of threat that they may pose.”

“Mentally we would need to be strong as this would put us ahead of UJ. [In terms of] Physical fitness we will be on par with them and we will compete”, said Tshabalala.

With three players from last season gone, Wits FC women’s side has six new players who according to Tshabalala will be adding more value to the team.

“To bridge the gap, we will work strategically at training to ensure the quick transition of the new players to blend in with the squad. There are six players who have joined us which would change how we attack (sic). We will have a different approach of attack (sic) this year which would ensure scoring more goals”, said Tshabalala.

Ahead of tomorrow’s encounter, Tshabalala said Wits supporters can expect “Great football with goals.”

WITH VIDEO: Wits misses out on Varsity soccer tournament

by | Apr 25, 2014 | Sport

MOVING FORWARD: Wits University coach, Karabo Mogudi, puts his team through their paces before their USSA Gauteng league match against TUT.

MOVING FORWARD: Wits University Football Club (W.U.F.C) coach, Karabo Mogudi, puts his team through their paces before their USSA Gauteng league match against TUT.               Photo: Nqobile Dludla

WITS will not compete in this year’s Varsity Sports soccer tournament, since the men’s team failed to make it into the top three of the 2013 University Sports South Africa (USSA) Gauteng league.

Wits only finished fifth in the Gauteng league. To qualify for the Varsity soccer tournament, the top three teams competed in a national USSA tournament held in December. The top eight of the 16 teams qualified for the Varsity soccer tournament.

Why did Wits Not Qualify?

Commenting on the difficulty of the qualifying process, head of Wits soccer, Dennis Tshabalala told Wits Vuvuzela: “Gauteng is like South America in the FIFA World Cup. It is the most difficult route … Our seventh team in Gauteng can beat teams from the other regions who have qualified for the national tournament.”

Wits soccer had an unfortunate year in 2013, Tshabalala added. In 2012 they qualified for the 2013 Varsity tournament and everything went well. In contrast, qualification for the 2014 tournament had many issues, including injuries and suspensions. This was put down to an overworked squad, said Tshabalala, who played in many matches and tournaments.

How is the team currently doing?

Wits are currently doing well in this year’s qualification process and are in the hands of Karabo Mogudi, who has a level three South African Football Association coaching badge.

Three Bidvest Wits academy players have come to study at Wits and are currently playing for the team, which shows the good relationship between the university and the Clever Boys, Thshabalala said.

Asked about the university soccer structures, he said: “USSA has always been a platform to showcase talent.” Wits had one of their very own, Tefu Mashamaite, scouted at the USSA national tournament a few years ago and he now plays for Kaizer Chiefs.

Wits’ next game is against Tswane University of Technology on Tuesday, April 29 and they will be looking to continue their good form in the USSA Gauteng league, which sees them currently coming third on the 2014 log.

VIDEO: Dennis Tshabalala talks to Wits Vuvuzela about Wits soccer not playing the 2014 Varsity Soccer tournament.